


Trust

by NevaRYadL



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Din Djarin needs a mcfuckin nap, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, No Betas We Die like Nonbinaries, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Indulgent, Slightly Crack-ish, kinda??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29702943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NevaRYadL/pseuds/NevaRYadL
Summary: The Mandalorians hail a new king and now everyone else wants him on their side. Of course Leia and Luke have to try for the New Republic, especially when Luke has a gut feeling about it that he's almost certain is the Force. When Luke extends a rather heavy hand of trust and the Mandalorians take it, Luke finds himself on a new adventure.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 88





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: Mild language, canon divergence elements, siblings being siblings
> 
> I have no idea, I just thought a self indulgent and slightly cracky au where Luke and Din are friends and shit turns out out okay for once would be fun to write. And it is!
> 
> I guess some notes on the au:  
> -Luke was not called by Grogu and instead the crew were able to fight off the droids just barely  
> -Din reluctantly took up the mantle of king when Bo Kataan failed to defeat him to take it from him. She now looks for wayward Mandalorians to send back home and trains to defeat Din one day. He looks forward to it.  
> -Cara went off on her early retirement and will not have any large part of the story.  
> -This assumes that some of the Mandalorians survived the coven being killed (mostly Paz) and they now serve their new king.  
> -Boba decided to stick around for Din's sake, which means Fennec did as well.  
> -I have no idea if any shipping is going to be part of this, I'm just looking for a good time  
> -I know SOME Star Wars lore but I am by no means an expert, I will be avoiding what I don't know/looking it up, so please excuse errors

“Relax, Leia.”

“Oh sure, just relax as we approach the Mandalorian king and kindly ask him for an alliance with a political system that he hates and a galaxy that he hates and oh! For some reason, the Force in all its mystical wonder, wants you by my side. A Jedi! And a Mandalorian!” Leia rattled off, looking more frazzled with each word until her eyes looked a little unhinged and Luke wisely took half a step away from her. Too little too late, not even looking at him, she reached over and slapped him upside the head, ruffling his hair and making him snort. “Don’t tell me to relax, brat.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Luke said, raising his hands and offering his sister a smile. She stared hard back, meaner and more intimidating than any glare by a long shot. Leia learned the cutting art of ‘if looks could kill’ and even Luke would usually wilt underneath the hard and angry stares that she gave with an ounce of the hellfire in her belly. “But trust me… I have a feeling.”

“Oh good, you have a feeling. After this is done, the only ‘feeling’ that you’ll have is my fist colliding with your head as hard as I can. And then I’m going to bat my eyelashes at Chewie and you’ll feel the broad side of a Wookie fist against your head.”

“He’d never do that, he loves me!”

“And I hate you. Now shut up, the next person is up and watching people crumble is actually relaxing.”

Luke just laughed and turned his gaze to the next person in the line waiting for an audience with the Mandalorian king: the Mand’alor, Luke self corrected. Donned in shining Beskar, and lounging in one of the chairs provided at the event. It might have not been a throne, but the absolutely lazy, but dripping with self confidence and ‘mightier than thou’ boredom that rolled off the man made it seem so. 

Made even more so by his guards. An older Mandalorian that Luke, unfortunately, knew and a very large one flanked the man’s immediate sides. By those two, there was another Mandalorian with a horned helm and fur around her shoulders and the other was a woman in dark armor and carrying a very large rifle. They looked like, together, they could destroy everyone in the room and not break a sweat, and so completely and utterly bored with it all. When Luke tried to get a feel for them, he was met with impressive mental guards and traces of a deep and anxious sort of boredom that only came with idle soldiers of skill and merit.

The person up next to try and win an alliance with the king. Some senator that was stuffed in some absolutely ridiculous outfit that must have been in fashion. Luke was glad that no one was giving Leia any lip about her much more practical outfit, the rebellion having made her only want practical outfits that could be fought in at a moment’s notice. She paired well with his simple black robes. But neither here nor there, as the two siblings watched this senator offer a bounty of treasure, alliance with his planet and trade. Not much, but he made it flowery and long and fluffed it up well beyond its worth.

“No thanks.”

And shot down. The senator fumbled on his words for a moment, obviously not expecting the rejection, only for the big Mandalorian at his side to move _just slightly_ and the senator was running while mumbling farewells. The next person did not look too happy about their chances now.

“You sure we stand a chance?” Luke asked quietly. He trusted his sister and this compelling feeling to be here with her was still there, but watching the king shoot down all these offers. Honestly, even a handful and he would have enough wealth to shake the galaxy as viciously as he wanted. But he had shot down each one.

“You had a feeling, remember?” Leia said, giving his arm a punch. “But yes. I’ve been researching their kind for weeks. Not to mention, and I still don’t know how, but Han managed to weedle a few good chunks of information out of the king’s friend there.”

“Ah yes, Boba Fett,” Luke said, looking over. Despite the helmet, he swore he could feel Boba’s eyes on him.

“And thus why my husband is scarcer than usual, because apparently payment was ‘and I don’t see that dirty smuggler face for at least a full year or else I’ll shoot it without hesitation’,” Leia sighed.

“You know he would get drunk, flirt and start a fist fight…”

“And you know what… it’d be kind of funny for a few minutes…”

They watched the same scene happen a few times. Someone would offer some materialistic goods and the Mandalorians would turn them down. Sure, they were more or less polite about it, but also with a hard ‘you really thought we’d like this?’ note to the king’s tone. Which, to be fair, was kind of expected. After all, what Mandalorian would accept riches for an alliance? What Mandalorian sought our riches, especially the horrific state that their people were in?

Luke heard Leia fidgeting beside him as they came to be the next in line. He trusted her to get this, an alliance with the Mandalorian people would bring a great deal of peace, if nothing more making sure that certain powers were not the ones with the alliance was not. Mostly Leia wanted to help out the Mandalorians, ‘be their crutch until they could stand on their own’ so that when they were strong, they would be deadly allies to have AND be restored. It was good of her to try and help them out, but Luke knew just enough to know that it was not going to be easy. He also knew his sister did not like it easy, she liked a challenge to sink her teeth into. No one was suited better.

‘You have this’ He told her through their thoughts.

‘Shut.’

He grinned for half a second before the person before them skittered off like a startled womp rat, leaving them to step up. They both bowed respectfully, Leia had made sure to make him do it right in front of her when he had insisted on coming along, before rising.

“Greetings Mand’alor, I am Senator Leia Organa, this is my brother Luke Skywalker. We are honored to meet with you and grateful that you are considering alliances,” Leia said, calm and collected despite her fidgeting a second ago. She always did best under pressure, only breaking apart in private. Not to mention, dealing with politics was apparently just slightly less than getting shot at during the rebellion.

“Skywalker… may have heard a few tales about the Skywalkers,” The Mand’alor hummed noncommittally.

“I do apologize, most of those tales were wildly blown out of proportion,” Leia said coolly. “And many are not ones we wish to repeat, I assure you.”

The Mand’alor merely made a noise of acknowledgement.

Leia went about her spiel. She had indeed researched what she could of Mandalorians and their culture. She wisely avoided anything that might be considered ‘protection’ or at all implying that the Mandalorians needed help with anything regarding fighting. Even as few of them as there were, that was just an insult to them. She also avoided any heaping amount of credits or wealth, given that it might help with how they were trying to re-establish themselves, but with how many of them were highly skilled, highly trained and highly sought out bounty hunters well… they could just get it themselves in due time with no strings attached. She also avoided making it seem like just the connections were worth that much, because in all honesty, with how everyone was still recovering from the war, they really were not.

No, instead she offered things that might actually be valuable to them. Beskar, any and all she could find she would send their way, no payment needed. Monitored trade routes to the planet that the Mandalorians could control heavily and extensively and revoke at any time. The ability to call upon her aid for matters of ‘political nonsense’ (that one got a chuckle out of the group and Luke felt the good humor among them for it being worded that way). She also offered to help make a selected Mandalorian a senator to get them more power in the current political climate, if they so choose.

“And if none of that entices you… if there is something that you want that I can provide, I will provide,” Leia finished up. “I want this alliance to be for your benefit, not mine, not any person that wishes to use your people when you’ve just gathered yourselves.”

A slow nod of a Beskar covered head, before a slow turn of it towards the horned helmed Mandalorian. The horned helm one turned towards him and there seemed to be an unspoken conversation between them for a moment, before they both turned towards the twins. 

“You have a Jedi with you.”

“I can make him go away,” Leia said quickly, firmly, making sure to throw a glare at Luke.

“Why is a Jedi with you?”

For some reason, the tone was not accusatory or even harsh at all. It sounded like a genuine question and Luke was beginning to wonder if the Force was compelling him again into yet another adventure. An adventure that quickly formed in his mind and he quickly said.

“I also offer something, Mand’alor,” Luke said, making sure to keep his voice humble despite the building energy within him. A fool’s plan was forming and he was already enamored with it. “Should the mighty Mand’alor accept it, of course. But to truly show that things will change, that amends will be made, and to show how trust on our part… I will train your people to fight Jedi.”

‘LUKE!’

‘Wait for it…’

That surprised the group, helmet covered heads and armor covered bodies shifting with tangible confusion. Even the mighty Mand’alor opted to sit up, leaning forward to put his weight on his arm and elbow to his knee. He was interested, Luke could feel that even past the rigid mental barriers between them.

“I’m listening,” The Mand’alor rumbled out.

“Our people once fought, and my people committed a grave tragedy upon the Mandalorians by slaughtering your kind and pushing them to the point they are now. I am the last Jedi, and I am the last of my kind. Being the last one standing, I can change things, I can change how the Jedi will operate from here on out. I must address the wrongs of the Jedi before me and do better. So I extend an offer to show you how committed I am to that,” Luke said, feeling Leia’s gaze starting to burn into the side of his head. She was going to kill him for this, last Jedi be damned. 

“Let me show you that I am committed to change. Let me show our weakness because I am willing to put that trust into you. And the same trust, that should history try and repeat itself, you will have the tools to make sure that _it doesn’t_.”

Leia had gone stock still next to him. He read horror and fear and concern radiating off of her, almost enough to make him shiver at the coldness of it. But he knew what he was doing… mostly… sort of. He had most of a plan.

Once again, the shined helmet of the king turned towards the horned helmet. After a moment of a silent conversation that Luke almost wished he had it in him to pry with cheating. Instead he stood and waited for whatever was going to happen to happen.

And it did.

The horned helmet Mandalorian turned back towards them and spoke in a calm and level voice.

“The Mand’alor will speak with you later.”

Luke beamed. 

He was pretty sure that Leia was torn between the same and strangling him right then and there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Mild language, siblings being siblings

“... Am I interrupting something?”

“Normal weekday for us,” Luke beamed, his sister still sitting on his chest and still attempting to choke him. Seeing that the horned helmet Mandalorian was there, Leia quickly stood and righted herself, quickly adjusting her hair and coughing while trying to appear innocent. Luke just snorted as he stood up, dusting himself off before offering the Mandalorian before them a smile.

“It is impolite to ask you of your name before you willingly give it, so how may we address you?” Leia said, making sure to elbow Luke in the ribs hard enough to rob him of breath when he stood a little too close.

“Hmm… you’ve done your fieldwork,” The Mandalorian hummed thoughtfully. “For now, you may call me the Armorer.”

The both nodded before the Armorer took a seat at the table. 

It was a conference room of some sorts, with a holo-projector in the center and a few stacks of chairs off to the side for more seats and generally lacked any sort of personal touch outside a few wear and tear markings on the table. It hardly seemed the place to be making history making alliances, but Luke supposed that stranger things had happened, and at least he was not on a swamp planet or desert planet again. He took a seat, making sure to put a seat between him and Leia, who was still trying to burn holes into his head through sheer force of gaze alone.

“The Mand’alor will be alone briefly. Boba Fett has a few contacts he felt were of interest for our king to know personally. In the meantime, he has granted me permission to start to discuss this show of trust further. If we may?” The Armeror asked, incling her head.

“Of course,” Leia said, putting on her best award winning smile and sending Luke a death threat in thoughts.

“Let me be blunt then. We are interested. This is an immense show of trust on your part and does indeed add validity to your claims that you wish for this alliance to be to our benefit. To be willing to show your throat and belly so that someone may learn to go for them… that is indeed trusting,” The Armorer said. 

Luke liked her. She has this comforting level of firmness and levelness in her voice and carried herself… ‘regally’. Honestly, had someone else not pointed out the other Mandalorian, Luke would have mistaken her for the king. 

“And you are right in that things need to be changed. If our former enemies are willing to go to such lengths to prove that they are no longer our enemies well… it would be rude to at least not try.”

Luke felt slightly giddy that his almost plan had worked. The chance to change the future for the better and make new allies would always be welcome, to right some of the wrongs of the past and make the future generations of Jedi better for it. He hoped that Yoda, Obi-Wan or Anakin would be proud of him for doing this. Force knew his sister was not…

“However, we were wondering if perhaps you would be willing to go further with it?”

_‘Luke… I’m going to kill you…’_

“Depends on what that is, if I may ask back?” Luke offered with a smile, ignoring how Leia was still boring holes into his head.

“Of course, we do not want to put Luke into any danger,” Leia quickly added. “Trust, especially with the tragic history between the Mandalorians and the Jedi, will need to be earned but I would hope that nothing would put my brother in danger. Family aside, Luke has become very important to the people of the New Republic and the victories he has accomplished for us.”

“Of course and we understand the wariness,” The Armorer said, pausing for a moment before turning towards the door.

Said door opened and behind it stood the Mand’alor, as well as the large Mandalorian and Boba Fett just behind him. A wave of the hand, a few bobs of armored heads and it was just the Mand’alor in the room with them and the door closed again.

It struck Luke that, in terms of how Mandalorians usually dressed… there was really nothing extraordinary about this one. Sure, his armor was predominantly all newer beskar and thus looked all shiny and new but… he was not all that tall or board. He was maybe… three or four inches taller than Luke himself and just a nudge broader, and his armor did not look like it was hiding any impressive muscle mass. He looked rather… normal. For a Mandalorian, to Luke’s eyes at least.

“Mand’alor,” The Armorer greeted as the man himself sat down next to her. “I was just getting to your proposition.”

“Yes… I want you to come to Mandalore to train my people,” The Mand’alor said. “No friends, no droids. You can bring a communicator and we’ll allow you to use our own communications, but nothing more.”

Beside him, Leia went rigid. That was… a lot. Luke, despite being the one to offer the initial offer, was slightly… ‘uneasy’ about being all alone in a foreign world all by his lonesome. He did not think that any of the Mandalorians would hurt him of course, but, even to him that would isolate for meditation and regularly went to new and exciting places… this was… a lot.

“We are interested in your teachings. But if you teach just a handful of us in your space and then we have to carry it back, it lessens greatly,” The Mand’alor explained. “On our planet, you can teach a lot more and we have the means of preserving it to share with future generations. But, at the same time, we don’t want you sharing any potentially sensitive information with the New Republic until we can establish trust.”

“That is… a lot,” Leia breathed out, sounding like she was gearing up to argue.

“We understand,” The Armorer said, with a pang of sympathy in her voice.

“Can we make a compromise?” Luke offered. “One droid, _but_ , for the duration that I am on Mandalore I make sure that his communications are planet locked, and that any and all recordings are confined to a droid’s basic memory functions.”

The Armorer turned to the Mand’alor. After a moment, the Mand’alor grumbled.

“That is acceptable. You will have to excuse the Mand’alor, he is… not fond of droids. But we can make an exception in this case,” The Armorer said. 

The Mand’alor grumbled louder and Luke had to bite back a laugh. It seemed inappropriate to laugh at the king of the Mandalorians. Also counterintuitive to what he was trying to do currently, which was get on this man’s good side. Earn his trust. Earning a battle hardened Mandalorian’s trust that did not like Jedi. Wow, he had his work cut out for him this time. Give him death star number three folks.

“Besides that, you’re free to take whatever to make yourself comfortable and what you may need to teach,” The Mand’alor said.

“I don’t need much. Jedi tend to travel light and honestly, I can’t think of anything special I would need,” Luke hummed.

“Luke, dear sweet brother of mine, you’re taking at least a week to make sure you’re truely prepared before you go galavanting off on another adventure,” Leia said through a cuttingly sweet smile and eyes filled with cold murder.

“And, as the good general advises, I will be taking a week to make sure I am really prepared before I go galavanting off on another adventure,” Luke smiled.

The Armorer and the Mand’alor snorted briefly at his misfortune. He just kept up a smile as Leia tried to put holes into his head through sheer force of glare alone.

* * *

“No, your sister’s right, she deserves to throttle you a little, twerp,” Han said.

“I thought you would have been on my side,” Luke pouted over his drink.

Luke really did not need a week to get ready. Most everything that he liked to keep with him could travel in an over the shoulder bag or a modest trunk. Coming up with ‘lesson plans’ only really took three days before he found himself reaching and decided to wing the rest of them. He came to the conclusion that Leia was doing some of that ‘political nonsense’ in the background and just wanted him to stew for a week. She knew he was still cresting the highs of the war and fighting and looking for something more high energy before settling down to restart the Jedi order.

So now, day four, and Luke was trying to pass the time by catching up with Han at a local cantina. But given the fact that Han was currently taking Leia’s side, he was beginning to think that he should have just gone into a meditative state until he was scheduled to take off. 

“Normally kid? Yes, but these are the Mandalorians we’re talkin’ about,” Han said, ducking his head to keep his voice low. Because right now the rumor mill was in full swing about the rumors of the alliance that Leia was building with the Mandalorians. Luke honestly thought most of them were funny, including the ones where Leia was offering him as a sacrifice, that Luke was really the Mandalor king and the one Luke was going to fight the king for the alliance by rite of combat. “Those Mandos are somethin’ else, kid.”

“Speaking of which, how did you get Boba to tell you all that stuff about them?” Luke sidetracked.

“Booze, fighting, and the fact that I had a few raw chunks of pure beskar from some job a few years back that I was keeping for a rainy day,” Han said, waving his hand around. “The details are boring. It worked, that’s all that matters.”

Han put a hand out over Luke’s drink and gently encouraged him to set it down mid motion to take a swig.

“Actually, what matters is what your deal is. Why the hell are you tellin’ Mandos how to kill Jedi, kid?” Han asked.

“Trust,” Luke shrugged, swatting Han’s hand away. “I don’t want to restore the Jedi just to have the feud between us and the Mandalorians to start again. Things are going to change, but for things to change between us… I don’t know, I had a gut feeling and I went with it and it worked.”

“The Force can’t possibly work like that,” Han muttered, taking a hefty swallow from his own drink.

“Space magic,” Luke said, wiggling his fingers at Han before a hand came up to swat the back of his head. “But trust me. This will be good for everyone. I end a feud before it can start up again, the Mandalorians become at least peaceful with the New Republic and the galaxies’ greatest warriors get restored. Everyone wins!”

“Except you… alone on Mandalor… with let me guess… Artoo?”

“Yep!”

“Boy, you’re lucky you’re such a pretty man, because you have nothing else going for you,” Han snorted and this time, Luke was the one to take swings at his head. “And your aim leaves something to be desired.”

“Jackass.”

“Hey!” Han snapped, reaching over to tossle Luke’s hair. “Leave the swearing for Artoo, that little potty mouth droid is bound to do enough swearing for the two of you.”

Luke took Han’s drink and finished it in revenge, prompting him to quickly jump up and run around the counter to avoid Han getting up and chasing him. He tossed the credits plus tip on the counter on his way back around before dashing out the door, giggling with Han hot on his heels.

* * *

“So what exactly are you going to teach them?”

The day before he was set to go and Luke was packing up his X-Wing for the trip. There was not a lot to pack, but at this point he was getting anxious and just wanted to go. He just had this feeling that he needed to go and get started and it was making his (at least the flesh hand) ache to do… _something_. So he was packing his X-wing and listening to Artoo complain as he wheeled after Luke.

Leia looked frazzled and tired and Luke guessed he was right about the political nonsense, just watched him from her perch on a cargo box not too far away. 

“How to fight against a lightsaber, Jedi maneuverability, how to defend against Jedi mind abilities, that kind of stuff,” Luke hummed as he lifted up the trunk with his personal effects and carried it to the ship. Clothing, things to work on his lightsaber, a few books, a few things to work on Artoo, a few things for his cybernetic hand, mundane things just to keep his life going when he was there. “Something to give them a fighting edge because I don’t think there’s much ‘insta-kill’ Jedi tricks out there other than ‘oppressive enemies forces’ like I read about happening in the Clone Wars.”

“Please tell me that if you ever find something that can instantly kill Jedi, you won’t share it?” Leia asked dryly, giving him a withering look when he looked over at her as he came out of the ship.

“Cross my heart,” Luke smiled, and then promptly got bonked in the head by some canister, Force thrown at him by his sister. He really needed to remember that she could do that occasionally because _ouch_. “I promise, I promise, stop throwing things at me.”

“I’m worried about you,” Leia sighed as he rubbed his head. The heaviness of her voice had him walking over to sit on the crate with her, her head falling on his shoulder the second his butt was down. “I really thought that with everything being over, things would calm down and… I don’t know. Not this, for sure.”

“I know. But I promise, this will be good and I’ll be safe,” Luke said, leaning his head against hers. “I just don’t want to go and start up the Jedi Order again and history to just repeat itself. If we want things to change, we have to do the things that will change them.”

“I know,” She sighed. “I can still be upset that my brother is entering a potentially dangerous situation.”

“Hey, I’ve lived this long and have been in way more dangerous situations,” Luke grinned.

“Yeah, yeah… still. As your sister I love you and worry over you.”

“Love you too, Leia.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Mild language, lots of dialogue
> 
> Luke makes it to Mandalore

Artoo screamed.

“No, stop that, stop that right now,” Luke snapped as he followed the Mandalorian ships guiding him to port. Said ships that had caught him hovering near the planet awkwardly waiting for some sign that he was welcomed to land, and not only came out to be that sign but also guided him there. While also being quite polite too boot.

“Is… everything okay in there?” One of the pilots asked.

“My R2 unit is being a drama queen,” Luke sighed.

“... oookay.”

Luke snorted and cut off his ends of comms, following the ships into the atmosphere, and then down to the largest cluster of buildings that Luke could see across the desert planet. He remembered reading something in Leia’s notes about how the planet was being cultivated to start regrowing greener things after the planet had been ravaged. For now, the current surviving Mandalorians were clinging to the still standing cities, but especially around one that seemed to have been a capital or at least larger city at one point. 

The spaceport was just outside the city, Luke being instructed to park his X-Wing in the spot that it would remain parked until his teachings were done (or in the worst case, until he was kicked off the planet), before coming out to meet his guides. A larger Mandalorian and a smaller one with a cape greeted him on platform, telling him that they were going to take him before the king and then someone else would help get him situated into living quarters. They asked him to leave Artoo with his ship for the time being, at least until his visit with the king was done, before urging him to follow.

“Language,” Luke scolded when Artoo beamed out several scathing profanities. Artoo gave him a sassy remark back, but sulked back up into the X-Wing for the time being. The Mandalorians gave him a funny tilt of their head that were probably funny looks behind their helmets, before he followed after them.

Given the fact that he was seeing Mandalorian architecture and that he was likely going to be staying in the city long enough to need to know his way around, Luke made sure to look around thoroughly. Though he made sure to keep any comments to himself, because he was not sure how they felt about their still rebuilding city. They were still rebuilding after so many years of the planet being falsely called ‘dead’. Still, Luke loved soaking up all these little hints of a happier cultural time in the Mandalorian life.

The building that he got led to was not exactly what Luke had in mind for a king’s palace. It looked like maybe at one point it was a slightly better off warehouse, sturdy walls and heavy and large doors and only three stories. And inside were only a few Mandalorians, talking quietly as they bent over datapads and a few at ground level were at larger communications terminals and speaking with Mandalorians on the other ends.

Luke wisely kept his trap shut and followed his guides up the stairs to the second level, and then the next flight of stairs up to the third level.

The third level was mostly barren and looked like it might have been more for offices are one point. Until someone knocked out most of the walls and now it was mostly desks. And among the desks was the Mand’alor, leaned against a desk and his helmet pointed squarely at something laid out before him. If Luke could see his eyes, he would guess that the man was staring hard if not outright glaring at whatever it was. It looked like old parchment, whatever it was. But Luke did not say anything, just following his guides forward before bidding their gesturing forwards towards their king and standing before him.

“Well met again, Mand’alor,” Luke said, making sure to duck his head respectively.

“Skywalker, you made it.”

“You make it sound like I wouldn’t.”

“Wasn’t sure I had scared you off. Glad to see that I didn’t,” The Mand’alor said, straightening up. “Welcome to Mandalore.”

“Thank you for having me.”

“I have a personal code for the terminals downstairs,” The Mand’alor said, gesturing to a small fob-like thing on the table with him. “You’re free to use it during daylight hours, but not at night. Also for security purposes, I cannot guarantee anything won’t be recorded or listened to by others.”

“Got it.”

“Also you’ll need your permission before taking off on your ship. I would prefer it be from me, but if the situation is dire, you can also ask Boba Fett. And I would prefer if your droid stays with you at all times and not wandering my city by its lonesome.”

“Got it.”

“Besides that, just use common sense when going about my city. Don’t go through other peoples’ belongings without permission, don’t go sneaking around, do take unless you’ve been granted to take. Like a proper civilized city in the Republic. And don’t go outside city walls. Not that I don’t trust you, but the desert is still especially harsh and I _will not_ explain to the princess how you died if you get lost to the sands.”

“Got it.”

“... You are still remarkably calm about this.”

“Well,” Luke shrugged. “I’ve done a lot of exciting things in my life. This honestly seems like the most tame thing I’ve done in years. And honestly all you’re ‘big scary strict’ rules are mostly you looking out for your people and my wellbeing.”

The Mand’alor hummed thoughtfully for a moment, shifting from a rather stiff and ‘proper’ posture to a much more relaxed one. Luke decided to not cheat and get a read on him by using the Force, just offering an easy smile. And after a moment, the Mand’alor merely made a noise that sounded like it did not know if it wanted to be a scoff or an easy laugh, before the Mand’alor merely bobbed his head.

“Downstairs the Armorer is waiting for you. She’ll show you a place where you can lay your head. She’ll also give a small tour of the city, mostly the market stalls. I realize that this show of trust was a gift on your part, but gifts of knowledge don’t put food on the table and with resources scarce on Mandalore we can’t just give things away. So you’ll be given a ‘mentors’ pension for the duration of your teachings. Nothing much, but it will keep food on your table.”

“Incredibly generous, my thanks.”

“Again, I don’t want to explain to your sister that her brother died in an incredibly… bad way.”

Luke snorted despite himself. 

“Any questions?”

“When would you like me to start?”

“Sooner rather than later, but if you need time to adjust, you can freely have it.”

“How about… end of the week? Should have more than enough time to get familiar with the city and get plans set up.”

“Sounds good.”

Luke gave a proper bow to show his respect before leaving the Mand’alor to his work (making sure to grab the codes first) before heading down stairs to find the Armorer waiting by the doors that he had come in. He gave her a smile and a bob of his head.

“Good to see you again.”

“And you as well, Skywalker. Come now and follow me.”

Once again out in the city, Luke and the Armorer saw a few more Mandalorians than from the port to the building that their king used. It was definitely not the amount you would see in a city about that size, and most seemed to be giving Luke a bit of a berth, helms pointed towards him and likely watching him. Sizing him up and all that. Not that Luke did not expect that, in fact, he figured that most Mandalorians probably disliked if not outright hated him. Which was fine, he stood next to a Sith for a few hours on a ship of people that probably lost friends, family and coworkers to him. He could handle a race of people be wary of, not him personally, but the creed he was part of. 

“This way.”

The Armorer led him away from the building that her king used. A few buildings away, the cluster of buildings that opened up to something that looked closer to a marketplace. More open space, a few stalls and a few buildings with open and welcoming storefronts, some of which still looked like they had rather fresh paint on them, barely a month old.

“This is the marketplace, as you have probably figured out,” The Armorer said, waving a hand around to vaguely gesture at all of it. “You will be able to buy most any food you need here and a few odds and ends. You need not worry about being overcharged, the Mandalorians would not be that petty. Also our king made sure to _kindly_ warn them not too.”

He nodded and looked around and for a moment, felt a small pang of homesickness. It sort of reminded him of his home planet. Sure, if people wore less armor, one might have even pegged it for just another planet, though some Mandalorians did not have their helmets on--

Wait…

“May I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“May I ask why some Mandalorians are wearing helmets and some are not?” Luke asked as they walked by such a pair. A shorter Mandalorian in full armor and one with their helmet off and cradled in their arm, as they spoke over what looked like rations being packaged for journey.

“Ah, yes, that is a good question to have, actually,” The Armorer said. “And quite a fascinating answer it has. For you see, when the Mandalorians were scattered to the winds, we started to develop our lives differently. Including how we viewed our Creed. Some saw the armor as an important symbol, but others saw it as an integral part of the religion. The latter apparently became known as the Children of the Watch.”

“Ah, I see.”

“And yes, I am part of that, as well as our king. Thought the origins of the Children of the Watch are a bit zealous and fanatical in origin, we have found common ground with the rest of the Mandalorians that are not. We still do not remove our helms though, not unless within the safety of our home and with our spouses. So, as you might have guessed, it is incredibly rude to ask a Mandalorian to remove their helmet.”

“That is interesting.”

“Indeed.”

Luke’s home for the foreseeable future, was a modest home not too far away from the marketplace. Nothing about it stood from the houses around it. When they stepped inside, it had one room, with a bed, a place to cook, and a basic shelving unit. Honestly, perfect for Luke, who was used to sleeping in military barracks, his ship and generally whatever safe place that he could rest his head.

“It’s not much--”

“I’m a Jedi. I have a bed, I’m _ecstatic_ ,” Luke laughed.

“And I… somehow believe that.”

Luke laughed again.

“We had a number of provisions to help you get started with food. If you need anything else?”

“I should be set, thank you so much.”

The Armorer bowed her head once and then left Luke to his own devices for the evening. Though those would honestly be more getting his things and his droid from his ship and settling before starting on those lesson plans for the coming week. And quite honestly, all things considered, this was perhaps the smoothest start to an adventure that he had had yet and mayhaps that meant that this one would not be quite so… galaxy changing as some of his other ones.

But right now, he probably needed to get his droid, because knowing Artoo and his luck, chances were that the drop ramp for his ship was down and Artoo was ‘being good and staying on the ship’ but also loudly harassing Mandalorians ‘from the ship’. Actually at that thought, Luke quickly rose to fetch Artoo, still rather chipper as he started running for the space port.


End file.
